Glories of China

Dear Wendy Wu

We have just returned from the ‘Glories of China’ trip and would like to say what a wonderful experience it was. Not only did we see everything we wanted to but more besides. Our national guide Gerry was not only knowledgeable but a happy, friendly person. When timings went array, as they did in Guilin he re-scheduled visits and fitted all our planned visits in. We had asked for extra bedding before the trip and he made sure that we had it at every hotel we stayed in. He was always ready to help or assist if he could. At times it was quite tiring and we would have liked less ‘factory shopping’ and a bit more relaxation/shopping time in Beijing but on the whole it was extremely enjoyable.
Unfortunately our stopover in Dubai nearly went disastrously wrong. We were met at the airport by a representative of Gulf Ventures and given an information welcome pack containing contact telephone numbers for the local hotel rep. Upon arrival at the Ramada Jumeirah, they had no record of our booking. They found the booking for another couple who had opted for the Dubai stopover but not ours. For one hour they tried various telephone numbers without answer. We were then advised that we needed to continue trying to making contact and accept the telephone costs for doing so. The receptionist did in the end continue to assist.
Eventually they made contact with Gulf Ventures and when their Ref AA262687 was quoted they admitted that it was an error on their part and no confirmation had ever been sent. After a further delay of approximately 45 minutes, written confirmation was agreed. We were then offered a beverage whilst waiting for the room to become available. In all it was 3.25 hours after our arrival. I must say that the hotel was not at fault and from then on the staff and facilities were marvellous
At no time during our stay in Dubai did our representative Issi get in touch with us. As you can imagine this rather spoilt the end of what had been an enjoyable and wonderful journey to China.

We would also like to thank Ponders Travel who we booked through for all the help and advice they gave us before the trip.

Kind regards
Trevor & Jean